Cultural Context Port Moresby 1946 – 1948

Port Moresby is currently the capital of Papua New Guinea. Before the European settlement, the area was inhabited by the Motu and Koitabu people. The port was named after the Adm. Sir Fairfax Moresby, father of the explorer, Capt. John Moresby, to whom the harbor is credited. (Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2018)   In present day, the…

Cultural Context – Gulf District, Kerema Station, Volume 15, 1936-1937

Commonly known as PNG, Papua New Guinea’s reputation often precedes itself. PNG’s infamous diversity, combined with its many colonial relationships, has resulted in a deeply complicated history. Papua New Guinea is a young nation, having gained independence in 1975 following a long process of missionization, outside government control, and colonial rule which began in earnest…

Cultural Context West New Britain, Talasea 1968-1969

The patrol report that I am assigned to is West New Britain, Talasea station, Papua New Guinea from 1968-1969.  The Diary entries for the first patrol report mainly focuses on the road work on road from Talasesa to Narunageru. Patrol officer W.G. Speldewinde wrote down the amount of progress that was worked on the road,…

Cultural Context of the Gulf District, Kerema in 1935 – 1936.

Kerema, which is the provincial capital of the Gulf District, is located on the southern coast of Papua New Guinea, and due north of Queensland, Australia.  According to the National Archives of Australia, Papua New Guinea was proclaimed a Class ‘C’ mandate from the League of Nations in 1921, which gave Australia sweeping new powers…

Cultural Context, Pangia District

My assigned patrol report was stationed at Pangia, in the district of the Southern Highlands, during the years of 1970-1971. My assigned patrol report was volume number 10, consisting of 8 reports. The area(s) patrolled within Pangia were: Pangia Sub-district, Wiru, Eastern Part Pangia Sub-District, all major villages within the Pangia sub-district, Wiru C.D., and…

Cultural Context: Central District, Port Moresby by Jia Li

Port Moresby in the Central District of Papua, is the administrative capital and the biggest town in Papua New Guinea. It is one of the most economically developed and most populous cities in Papua New Guinea according to the data provided by Worldatlas and many other pertinent articles. Port Moresby today has an international airport…

Cultural Context West New Britain

Multiple patrol officers conducted the patrol reports on West New Britain district from 1961 to 1962. Throughout those reports, officers mentioned about the geographical figure of West New Britain. Colin Booth was the officer who wrote the first patrol report for this volume. Colin indicated that the region was composed of three larger islands Garove,…

Cultural Context of the East Sepik District, Yangoru from 1949-53

I was very excited to begin my research of my assigned patrol report volume, which is that of the East Sepik District, Yangoru from the years 1949 to 1953. I was intrigued whilst reading the actual patrol reports from the collection, for they are valuable primary sources from eyewitnesses of the actual colonization process. However,…

Cultural Context SHD Pangia Vincent Rojas

Papua New Guinea’s Southern Highlands District Pangia seems to be one of the most remote areas of exploration when looking at the diary’s and patrol reports of the Kiaps during the years of 1969-1970.  For one, the patrol officers always seem to note the rainy weather and the lack of proper roads to access certain…